This print is a benefit for my friends Nicole and Jason. Nicole has a life-threatening chronic illness that takes up all of her & her husband Jason’s energy and time in dealing with it… it’s a desperate struggle and a terrible thing to have to contend with.

This print is priced on a sliding scale: $20-$50 in $5 increments. Choose your price from the menu below; the default/suggested price point is $40. $4 from each print goes to me; J&N will get $16 to $46 per print, depending on what you select.

If you live in Providence and want to pay with Paypal, but can come pick up the print, the shipping cost (minus Paypal’s fees which are a buck or two, depending on the price) will go to J&N as well. Contact me!

detail:

… and some more about Nicole and Jason:

Nicole is a poet who has been affected for many years with a disease of the autonomic nervous system. This means that the part of her nervous system that most people don’t have to think about — that which controls basic physical functions like heart rate, blood flow, digestion, breathing, etc. — doesn’t work properly, and is affected strongly by things that would not affect most people’s bodies: certain foods, chemicals, molds, off-gassing of ordinary materials, electromagnetic frequencies, standing up or changing position, etc.

Nicole’s husband Jason is a musician who has been part of many of my most compelling concert-going experiences here in Providence — I feel deeply the amount of excellence, humor, and awesomeness he has brought into my life, as well as the example he has set of being a “grown-up” artist, committed to his art and to collaboration and community. Last year, he put his library science degree on hold to care for Nicole around the clock, and to support her in whatever ways are necessary.

Nicole’s symptoms became severely worse about a year ago, and she and Jason left Rhode Island to look for a less-urban home — also to be closer to a specialized treatment center. They are now living in Vermont, and about to move into a new place: at the time of this writing (late May 2010), Nicole is unable to live in the house they’re renting, and is staying in a tent a couple hundred feet away from the house, where her body can work well enough to keep her alive. They are also trying to buy have bought (July 2010)! an Airstream trailer, and friends are now working on renovating it, so it will be safe for Nicole to live in…

I have a lot of admiration for these folks. A year ago, when our group of friends started organizing to support Jason & Nicole, I immediately thought, “Oh, that’s what I’ll make the ‘Pop Pop Snappers’ poster for!” — imagery I had been wanting to use for a long time. The active little girl who fearlessly throws fireworks in the air :: Nicole’s spirit & determination to survive and thrive. It has taken me a while to finally make the print, but here it is: I’m really excited about the boldness and simplicity of this print, and about the people that it’s helping to support.